Leinster's transformation still has a thing of wonder to Guy Easterby

If the history of Leinster, volume three, represents the current reawakening, volume two has the moment they embraced actual professionalism.

Little alterations, like moving to private gym, or beating the European champions at their own game on their own grbad.

In 2006 Guy Easterby was scrumhalf on that sun-drenched April afternoon at Toulouse's municipal stadium. Nowadays, the 47-year-old multi-tasks as head of rugby operations for the four-time champions.

The semi-final Munster took away from all that.

The only clubs in possession of this many titles renew acquaintances Sunday in the south of France.

Toulouse's clichéd 'aristocrats of French rugby' title does not hold much weight anymore as they float above the Champions Cup waterline thanks to the Freddie Burns fumble (or Maxime Medard's ingenuity).

In stark contrast we witness the upward trajectory of Leinster and, by badociation, Easterby's career.

"When we look back on it there is regret," he remembered this week. "The semi-final Munster took away from all that. Did we celebrate too much? Our flight was delayed so we went to Toulouse Munster [beat Perpignan].

"We've had a great win for Leinster, it was a first time we had a really big crowd away from home, it felt like the beginning of something.

"It was Michael Cheika's first season and he had made a difference, but we were still trying to score more than the opposition, rather than making ourselves defensively strong. It was more the Newcastle United way when they were top of the Premier League and could not win it. There is definitely regret there. We had got to semi-finals before. "

The evolution of the evolution of the evolution of the evolution of the economy.

"We were 10 years into professionalism. Mick Dawson and the other decision makers at that time took a brave risk in hiring an unknown head coach. The move to Riverview was a start-up of the changing rooms.

Despite Leinster's greatest generation of players flooding through, and discovering a coach to mold them, demand was overwhelming supply. The stadium quickly became unfit for purpose.

Bit lost

"The demand for tickets is huge. We knew we needed to move to the RDS. The administrative side of the organization was still in Donnybrook across from the ground. Now, that was 100 miles apart. We did not see the team.

"People like Ciara Kennedy has a lot of credit for her role in sales and marketing. She was relatively young and inexperienced but she saw the opportunity. "

Within two years of that Toulouse game Easterby had returned to Yorkshire to take over the family farm.

"He had cancer, he had a really big operation, so I went back home. He could not recover, which was pretty horrific. My girlfriend at the time was Irish so I was traveling back to Dublin most weekends. I was trying to help my dad but I found it really difficult to get back to playing professional rugby for 10 years. Farming had changed beyond belief.

"With Dad's pbading I was not in a great place," he continued. "I was a bit lost with looks that I wanted to do and then Cheiks rang me to get involved in a scouting type role. It was never really a scouting role. We were only allowed, so we are hardly scouring the world. That's not what Leinster has ever been about.

"Cheiks were always innovative and they liked to be able to deliver culturally. The team management role came up and I was still living in England. Chris Whitaker did it for me, and my husband went to live on the farm.

"It has grown to be so much more in the world, with Cheika having to focus on playing side of it – so dealing with the contracts become my role among others."

Stockbroker David Shubotham reportedly gave € 2.2 million to build their base in UCD but an obvious issue nowadays RDS needs renovating to match the image Leinster project on a global scale.

"It is certainly the next important step for Leinster Rugby."

What Easterby does state, categorically, is that one man leads the organization. Not one nor Dawson's chief executive – "and Mick will say it himself" – not Stuart Lancaster or Joe Schmidt and certainly not IRFU chief David Nucifora.

"We want our players to play for Ireland. That is the absolute key to what we do and Leo has been an incredible driver of that. His desire to see the players reach the pinnacle of their career, and that might be playing Pro 14, negates much of the 'tensions' [with the IRFU].

Selfless person

"Yes, we want to keep everyone at Leinster but that's not how Leo thinks. The head coach is the key really. Leo is the figurehead of the organization. He is in the media every week. "

This is a valid narrative in October 2018, and rewind to December 2015, pre-Stuart Lancaster, picture was obvious as it was published in the European Baths, Bath and Toulon (twice).

"It was clear we needed to change something. Leo is such a selfless person that he knew that himself. "

The current Cullen-Lancaster-Easterby is curious.

"We are also incredibly fortunate with the school system.

"We could never be certain about how the relationship was going to work. You see someone like Dean Richards who does not really coach. Leo still coaches. I take some of those 'director of coaching' roles he likes it most head coaches he wants to be able to take control of everything – and work 26 hours of every day! – because it is their head on the block with two- or three-year contracts. Why would not we have a head on it? "

Everything was questioned in late 2015, from Johnny Sexton's durability to the coaching ticket, but nobody foresaw how quickly James Ryan and Jordan Larmour would rise from schoolboys to Grand Slammers.

"And Garry's [Ringrose] development, "Easterby added. "James and Jordan – these players do not come along very often. We knew about them but they surprised everyone in how quickly they developed. "

There are more to follow. The loss of Conor Nash to Aussie Rules tougher looks permanent but the next Tadhg Gold Furlong Seanie O'Brien, via the Youths club system, are already visible.

"There are two names that spring to mind. I'm not going to go out there but we're really hopeful that they will come through.

"We are also incredibly fortunate with the school system."

Nobody of a sane disposition would be willing to seek help from their primary roles, pressing the button that enhances or diminishes careers, by negotiating player contracts.

"I've never seen a salary in the paper that's accurate. We do not care about the people here so what makes it so difficult. – In '06 we celebrated that Toulouse win for two days. Well, we probably did not like it. The player group are hungrier now. The organization is more driven.

"How are I recovering, how do I recover, how do I get selected from 55 players"? There is more going on in the way they think about the game. "